You don’t need to know about me to understand the entries on Gracenotes, and I don’t expect anyone necessarily to care about my life history, but some people like to know who they’re talking to, so here it is. I was born and raised in Huntsville, AL, a Southern city of engineers and rocket scientists (my Dad included). I was the sort of nerdy kid who like to read the encyclopedia. My spiritual formation, and most of my childhood friends, were at First Christian Church in Huntsville (in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)). I loved chemistry in high school but eventually decided to go into the ministry. I went to college and seminary at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth TX, along the way falling in love with biblical studies. I went to Princeton Theological Seminary where I got a PhD in biblical studies, and I taught undergraduate religion (Bible, intro religion, Islam) at Ohio Northern University in Ada, OH for eight years. I loved teaching, but after eight years I got divorced, lost my mind and went to medical school. I got my MD from the University of Alabama Birmingham, remarried, and finished a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Bethlehem, PA. Since then I’ve practiced medicine in Indiana and Tennessee, and currently I am a civilian physician for the U.S. Army practicing obgyn at Fort Benning in Columbus, GA. While I remain an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), I do not serve a church (actually never did other than student pastorates), but my Christian faith and my work in biblical studies remain important parts of who I am. I’ve tried to continue making a contribution to the life of the church in teaching Sunday School and occasional preaching. I have two grown children with associated grandchildren in Oregon, and three at home now in the process of launching (I hope). Cynthia and I have been married 19 years now. Medical practice fills my days from early mornings to late evenings, with seeing patients, doing surgery, delivering babies, and all the associated paperwork. Most of whatever time is left goes to household and family and reading, but some goes to thinking and writing about the topics of this blog.
Mark A. Plunkett
Columbus, GA 03 Jan 2016
Gracenotes 